1. placate (pg. 203): to soothe or mollify especially by concessions.
2. This section begins with giving the reader the background information of Fernanda del Caprio, who was brought up in a wealthy family, however her family is loosing both their money and power. Aureliano Segundo becomes instantly infatuated with Fernanda when he meets her at the carnival, the two of them get married. Soon after marriage they discover that they are two complete opposites, so Aureliano continues to sleep with Petra Cotes so the livestock can continue to thrive. Meanwhile, Fernanda tries to make the Buendia house more aristocratic, as she would like it. Fernanda and Aureliano Segundo have two children, Renata Remedios (Meme) and Jose Arcadio. The town tries to honor Colonel Aureliano Buendia, he does not accept it. Randomly, the seventeen children he fathered arrive in Macondo to celebrate with him. They all receive the cross made of ashes on their foreheads and do not wash them off. Aureliano Triste and Aureliano Centeno build an ice factory in Macondo, and also Aureliano Triste builds railroad connecting Macondo to other towns. As a result of this new railroad, foreign capitalists come and build a banana plantation in a town right next to Macondo that is fenced in. Aureliano Segundo is excited by the changes that this railroad is bringing to the town, but Remedios the Beauty does not even realize what is happening. She also does not know that she is the cause of death for many men that love her, until one day when she just floats away. Colonel Aureliano Buendia begins to regret his decision to end the war and threatens that he and his seventeen sons will fight, until sixteen of his sons are killed by unnamed men. Aureliano Buendia is deeply depressed and still wishes to fight, so he goes to Gerineldo Marquez for help, but he declines.
3. For me, this section really emphasizes the decline of Macondo. Many people, such as Remedios the Beauty do not understand the changes that this new railroad to bring to them. It is the end of life as they knew it before in Macondo. It seems that the railroad seems to bring in new technology, among other things, to the town but at the same time it replaces the magical things that the gypsies would bring. I also think it is ironic that the people of Macondo are perfectly willing to accept the unrealistic things that arrive in the town, but technology is hard for them to welcome into their lives. Such as when ghosts appear, or when Remedios the Beauty just up and floats away it is completely normal to them, but even simple technology is a marvel. Is this Marquez's way of saying that in Colombian history Western technology was a burden to them?
4. a) The men that Remedios the Beauty is said to have killed bleed an "amber liquid", what is the significance of this?
b) I know that Remedios is incredibly naive, but who is to blame for that? Remedios or the people that kept her sheltered?
c) It is said that Aureliano Triste and Aureliano Centeno build an ice factory in Macondo, is this an attempt to fulfill the dream that the town was surrounded by ice walls?
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